With deep sadness and sorrow, Dr Gholam-Abbas Dehghani, the Emeritus Professor of Physiology at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, passed away at the age of 73 in Shiraz, Iran, on February 21, 2022. He was born on January 01, 1949, in Joupar, a small city near Kerman, Iran. He earned his PharmD degree in 1974 from the Pharmacy School of Isfahan University, Isfahan, Iran (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Professor Gholam-Abbas Dehghani (January 1, 1949 - February 21, 2022).
Dr Dehghani arrived at the John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA, in 1975 and received his PhD degree in Physiology in 1980. During his PhD thesis, he studied the roles of aortic and carotid chemoreceptors in controlling cardiovascular and respiratory systems under different conditions in cats under the supervision of Professor Robert S. Fitzgerald, which resulted in the publication of 9 articles in prestigious journals. He returned to Iran in 1980 and became a faculty member of the Physiology Department of Isfahan Medical School for 1.5 years. Then, he moved to the city of Shiraz and began his carrier as an assistant professor in the Physiology Department of Shiraz Medical School in 1982. He was promoted to associate professor in 1993 and then professor of physiology in 1998. Unfortunately, he retired due to heart disease in 2009 but continued his collaboration with the Department of Physiology until 2015. He taught cardiovascular and respiratory physiology, and his research interests were cardiovascular, vanadium and diabetes mellitus, and brain ischemia. For over 30 years, he supervised many MSc and PhD students who are now academic staff in different universities in Iran.
Professor Dehghani made a significant contribution to the advancement of the physiology community and biomedical research in Iran in various capacities. He was a member of the Iranian Board of Physiology until 2014 and the head of the Physiology Department for several periods. He was appointed as the first dean of the Pharmacy School of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, which was established in 1990. He was also editor in chief of the Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences and Director for Graduate Studies of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.
Professor Dehghani was a dedicated and beloved teacher and supervisor. He shared his knowledge with students and colleagues. He supervised the theses of his students with great enthusiasm and care in everything but encouraged and guided them to work independently. By his demise, the Iranian Physiology Community has lost one of its greatest and most helpful members. We will miss him a lot.
“The study of a book is not only reading the lines, but also understanding between the lines,” he once said to his students.
